UC graduate students, service workers plan to strike

SANTA CRUZ -- The University of California service workers union and graduate student union are calling for a system-wide one-day strike on Wednesday.

At UC Santa Cruz, nearly 500 patient care service workers, 300 graduate student workers and a group of undergraduates are expected to participate in Wednesday's strike, said graduate student union leader Josh Brahinsky.

The service workers union, AFSCME 3299, announced their unfair labor practice strike Friday. The graduate student union, UAW, authorized a sympathy strike the next day and announced their intention to strike Wednesday night.

Brahinsky said UC graduate student workers and UC service workers experience the same problems. At UC Santa Cruz, 99 percent of graduate student leaders voted to support AFSCME's strike, he said.

"We're a labor movement," said Brahinsky. "In a labor movement you take care of each other."